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Monday, August 9, 2010

What feels like eons ago, but was actually about 6 years ago now, I stitched up a little puppy for my first ever niece. (More on the back story of said puppy and my attempt at making some jammies for it can be found here.) My skills back then were not amazing, but as I have always had a love of making things I found and picked up this little make it yourself puppy kit at the Hob-Lob.

It was designed to be made by an 8 year old.

Well, she loved it and loved it and loved it some more. It has always been on the top of the MUST HAVE list for bedtime friends. And after 5 years it was really starting to show. (I made it before she was born, hence the 5 and not 6 full on years of loving.)

You can't completely tell from that photo, but the side of puppy's neck was wide open and stuffing had come out the side. The sweet little nose was misshapen from years of puppy hugging from my niece.

Thankfully, the last time I was at the fabric store I picked up a few bags of poly-fil. I find, it never hurts to have some on hand. I actually deconstructed it a bit before restuffing it . . . apparently the last time I fixed up puppy all I had was some yarn to stuff him up with (as I said, the skills were not really honed at this point and he's needed more than a few touch ups over the years). My sister, who was watching me pull the stuff out and replace it with the fresh poly-fil told me, "It looks like you're ripping puppy's intestines out."

I'm throwing in a profile pick here as well so you can really understand how much something I actually made has been loved. And how it can always be brought back to some kind of freshness of life. (Even if its fur is all matted down and he's not looking so fresh anymore.)

I presented the patched up and re-fluffed puppy to his rightful owner. Want to know the first thing she did?

5
Comments:

That's what we have to do. My MIL gave my daughter a stuffed kitty cat for her first Christmas. Well, almost nine years later, Miss Kitty, is still the pet she packs to take to her other grammas house for her week stay and still the pet tucked up under her arm most every night at home. I love that old stitched up raggedy cat almost as much as she does. Thanks for making me smile.

Shelley - Honestly, it thrills me to no end that this little guy became a favorite of hers. I've produced a few more soft friends since then and I always wonder if they actually are beloved or if they just get lost among the rest of the toys. I know for sure the bunny I made for my second niece has been tossed aside and will probably not ever get loved. Not that I don't understand. For one thing, you never can tell what kids will choose as their most favorite toys. And for another, it was kind of a bunny wookie craft fail. I posted about it a long time ago . . .